Javier Loya, Hungry For Glory!

It’s rare to find a young fighter willing to take risks early on in their career. Often times you’ll see an undefeated fighter fold under the pressure once they take that step-up in competition, mostly because they’ve become accustomed to walk-over bouts.

Undefeated Phoenix AZ. fighter Javier Loya welcomes the tough challenges, in hopes of bigger rewards.

“fighting people with bad or no records is not good for my ranking. They say big risks equal big rewards so that’s what I’m striving for, just trying to catch somebody’s eye and get that contract”. -Javier Loya

On June 3, 2011 The 26 year-old Loya traveled West to take on previously unbeaten Jose Vargas in his own backyard at the Fantasy Springs Casino in Indio Ca. Loya would find himself hurt and in trouble in the opening round but battled back to stop Vargas in the closing seconds of the round.

Standnfight.com caught up with Loya for a quick Q&A session.

DS: You fought Jose Vargas here at the Fantasy Springs, can you tell me about that fight?

Loya: That fight was one of the longest, hardest… short fight I’ve ever had. It was like a 6 round fight in 1. Vargas was a very tough opponent.

When Vargas tagged me, it knocked the wind out of me. The thought in my head was; I cant go down, I will not go down, not like this. At that moment I tagged him and saw his knees buckle. I said to my self; it’s now or never, so I jumped on him with no mercy, delivering a nasty right hand to the body then a left which I felt land flush. The last thing on my mind was the crowd. I got in my zone and lost sight of evrything other then my opponent and what I was doing in that moment. By the time I knew it, the fight was over I couldn’t believe it, I had stopped him. It’s amazing what determination and will can do for a fighter.

DS: Fighting Vargas in his own backyard in front of his family & friends. Did that put any added pressure for you?

Loya: To tell you the truth I like fighting under that pressure. This was my 2nd time in that situation and I like that feeling. What people dont now was that my wife and new born son were in the crowd and that was my biggest motivation of all. When I got that TKO I felt like I was on top of the world. I couldn’t believe it. one minute I was hurt and the next I had stopped him. But then it was crazy how the people got mad about it and that was a scary feeling, not for me but for my family. Thank god nothing bad happen.

DS: Congratulations on your new born son.

Five out of six of the opponents you’ve faced have all had winning records. Now a days some boxers stepping into the pro ranks would rather test the waters starting off by facing guys with losing records.

Loya: Thanks man.

Well my dream is to get signed. Fighting people with a bad or no record is not good for my ranking. They say big risks equal big rewards so that’s what I’m striving for. Just trying to catch somebody’s eye and get that contract.

DS: We all heard people talk and say; oh their moving that boxer too fast, he’s gonna fall short. Does that bother you any and how do you respond to that?

Loya: A lot of people do play it safe but what about when they actually fight somebody strong, then what, are they going to fold under the pressure? I’d rather be ready for that moment.

People have their opinion but at the end of the day it’s me stepping into the ring and when I’m physically and mentally ready, then watch out because I’m hungry for glory.

DS: Are you currently signed with Michelle Rosado’s promotional company Face II Face Events?

Loya: No I’m not signed with her. I’ve only been in one of her shows. She’s helping to bring boxing back to AZ. which is great because we definitely need that.

DS: If you could be signed by any promotional company who would it be and why?

Loya: I would say any big company would be great but if I could pick, I would say Golden Boy Promotions. The reason being; [Oscar] De La Hoya was a fighter himself and he knows how hard it is for us fighters to come up.

I believe he knows the struggles we go through. I think he can appreciate a boxer more than other promoters because of that reason. Mr. [Bob] Arum and [Don] King have been in the sport for so many years and don’t take me wrong, they know what they’re doing, that’s why they run things. I just feel that De La Hoya is fresh a new face in the game and will be the next era of boxing.

I fought on [Golden Boy’s] card before and they treat fighters very well.

DS: In terms of amateur experience, how much have you had and how has your amateur experience helped you transition into the pros?

Loya: I had about 60-70 fights as an amateur. About 60 when I was between 12 and 17 years old. Then I took a long break. Too long. I had that itch to see what I could have done so I came back when I was 22 and had 12 open fights.

Having an amateur background does help you out a lot with ring experience. You see different opponents, boxers, brawlers, technical fighters etc. It’s what you see now except you only have 8oz gloves and no head gear. I love it.

DS: How did you get into boxing?

Loya: It’s a funny story, I got jumped by some gangster kids one day in Vegas when I was 12. I fought them off and I knew how to fight but my dad wanted me to really learn how to fight. So we went to a boxing gym, “North Las Vegas Center Ring Boxing” and I was hooked.

DS: Why the long lay off and what brought you back to boxing?

When I took the long break I was going through my rebellious age and it didn’t help that my parents were in the middle of a divorce. I just lost sight of boxing you can say.

First I took a day off, then a week, a month and by the time I realized I had just stopped all together but I always had that itch, the what if. So one day a trainer asked me to go check out his gym to see how I felt. I went and was hooked again. I tell you man it feels great to be back in the game. It’s been 3 years now and a lot of things have changed for the good. I think boxing is not just a sport but a way of life.

DS: If you can turn back the hands of time, is there anything you would do different Or do you feel having dealt with life’s struggles made you the person you are today? More Hungry to become a world champion and wanting to make a better life for your wife and son?

Loya: Things happen for a reason, the thought does cross my mind but I look back at the things that I learned, I grew up and the reality of life hit me. You learn from the good and the bad. So yes, it has made me the person I am today.

I can only wish and give it my all to get to that glory and give my loved ones the best life that I can.